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January 31, 2011

This is exciting. My first review of screener. Does this mean I'm selling out? Oh, who cares! I don't. I welcome it. Just think. I may soon be sent screeners of Oscar hopefuls and the biggest movies to come out. That probably won't happen for... ever, so, for now, I'll just stick with what I have. Beggars can't be choosers. For my first screener, I have to tackle the question of internet dating and all the qualms it brings. Clickin' For Love seeks to answer some of the questions that plague this hobby of some, and while it does shed some light on some aspects, it's too narrow minded about the whole thing, and, as such, all we are left with is a pretty biased documentary.

January 29, 2011

Brace yourselves. I'm gonna be using the word EXTREME a lot in this review.

Over the years, I've deluded myself into thinking that I am a, as Mattie Ross would say, man of grit. I'd like to think that I would go to great lengths to preserve my well being, and even further lengths to preserve the well being of those I hold dear. But who am I kidding. I'm a pussy, and would no doubt fold at signs of trouble. Which makes the envy the living hell out of Aron Ralston, quite possibly the most EXTREMEly badass person to ever live. His story generated a lot of attention, and has now been immortalized, quite spectacularly, by Danny Boyle in 127 Hours. Boyle's follow up to his Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire is even better than that film, wildly inventive, full of heart and spirit, with a tour de force performance from James Franco. Getting pinned by unmovable rocks sucks... at least I think it does... but the movie about that is pretty friggin' EXTREME!

January 28, 2011

Well, with Oscar noms out, there's not a whole lot of varied content flying around the blogosphere as of now. It's all "nomination this" and "snub that", and "oh look, here's the first Anne Hathaway/James Franco promo."

Actually, that's pretty funny! I really hope Franco does that if there is a wardrobe malfunction. Anyway, here are some things upon which you can click which will take to you to new things which you can read.

Before I leave you, I just want to remind you that The 1st Annual Snubbies have commenced, and if you have not voted, you totally should. The winners will be announced on Feb. 28th, the day after the Oscars, so you have plenty of time. Come on! Plenty of underrepresented films are given their just deserves. What's not to like?

January 27, 2011

So, Scott Pilgrim has defeated most of Ramona's evil exes, using various techniques that will no doubt be turned into additions to this feature someday. On ex numbers 5 and 6, however, he must employ different methods. As he is unable to use his fists, since punch the competition in a Battle of the Bands is totally not cool, he must resort to pummeling his foes with the awesome power of music? His weapon of choice? Distortion. Take a look...

The Lesson: Distortion makes the world good... and it summons yetis... with which you can beat the crap out of people... \m/ \m/

January 26, 2011

Lame title, I know. It's the best I could come up with. I'm open to suggestions.

Well, the Oscar noms are out, and they cannot be changed, much as we would like to. Ordinarily, I would just do the traditional thing, that is, write up a post detailing who I think should have been nominated for something, like I did last year. But a recent article from Univarn got me thinking. It's so boring to just do a post with your own opinions, because everyone who follows you probably already knows them already. I mean, I could go on and on about how Nolan should have been nominated for Best Director, Garfield should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, or how Let Me In should have been nominated for everything under the sun, but that's just not fun anymore! So, I thought I'd mix it up.

May I present the 1st Annual Snubbies. You heard it right, folks. This is the place where all the films snubbed by the Academy gets it just deserves! And, like the Academy, you will pick the winner. I've gone ahead and made up a list of nominees in each category that had chances (or I just really liked), but didn't make the cut, for whatever reason. Voting will remain open until February 28th, when the winners will be announced. That's right, the day after the Oscars are handed out, we're gonna swoop in and steal all their thunder with the help of the underrepresented. It's gonna be a trip!

January 25, 2011

Well, 37 out of 45 ain't terrible. Rejoice peoples! The nominations are here! Oscar has named the films in contention for this year's Academy Awards. For the most part, they were pretty much in line with what I predicted. There were some pretty big surprises, though. But, enough banter. Let's get started.

January 24, 2011

Castor over at Anomolous Material loves hosting the odd event every now and then. The current one is one of the most popular, bringing people together and stirring the creative juices. "Pitch Your Movie" has a group of bloggers each come up with an original movie, whether it be from the depths of their imagination, a remake, or an adaptation. The first step was to cast your film, which was achieved by a fantasy draft of sorts, in which you select your stars and director from the vast and bottomless vat of Hollywood big shots. The you write up your pitch, and send it along, after which people rate it, and the highest rated pitches will go head to head in an all battle to determine which is the best.

Mine just went up. You can find it here. It's a little long, and I apologize for that. I opted for a blow by blow of a plot summary rather than a quick synopsis. I like details, man! Don't be hatin'!

Anyway, if you'd be so kind, head over to AM and offer your two cents. Be sure to give a star rating at the bottom. That's what's gonna propel me into the competition. Anyway. That's all. Stay cool!

Time to root through some trailers. What sorts of wonderful things will be alluded to today?

People ask me why I never want to join a fraternity... If only they knew...

Brotherhood concerns a bunch of pledges to some random frat at some random college. As with all frats, the pledges have to do some ridiculous things to get in. Unlike most other frats, those things include robbery, hostage taking, and murder. Interesting way to prove your loyalty, but I guess it's an effective way to single out the men from the boys... At least, that's the rationale of the kids in the frat. Something goes wrong int he robbery and the shit hits the fan. And you thought your college years were bad.

I don't know anyone in here. Sorry.

The trailer is pretty cool. It's stylish without being overbearing, exciting without giving too much away, and realistic without going too gritty. The movie looks interesting, that much is certain. I imagine it's going to be a hard one to find, but, if it's anything like the trailer, it should be worth a look.

Also, was I the only one who roared with laughter when the doctor they bring in is just a med student?

All sorts of madness going down right about now. Golden Globes, and my esteemed lack of interest. Term starts up in a few days, so the amount of posts may go down, but I hope not. Oh, you may notice the new comment thing. That's Disqus, and it's awesome. Get it if you don't have it! The new year is full swing and people are, more or less, back on their usual routines.

Anyway...

Here are some things upon which you click, which will take you to new things, upon which you can read. Enjoy.

You may have noticed a new tab below the "Best Of What's Around" one, titled "Blogs About Other Things, Written By Other Friends, Which You Should All Totally Go To Because I Say So". Bit of a mouthful, but I like it! Those links are to blogs that friends of mine on the outside of the filmic universe keep. They are really good, and some of them are just starting out, and would appreciate some love. Just a thought...

January 19, 2011

Most sports movies these days end with the team/person winning. Understandable, since most everyone who goes to a sports movie wants to see their hero overcome the obstacles and defeat the competition as painfully cliched sweeping music plays in the background. But, what if they don't win...

In Coach Carter, the team has made it to the playoffs. Only the best of California's high school teams made the cut, and Richmond was one of them. They enter the first round, and play their hearts out. With seconds left to go, they are in the lead, when suddenly, as the buzzer sounds, a player on the opposing team shoots and scores a three, handing Richmond a loss and a quick exit from the tournament.
...

Hold on, what? A sports movie where the main team loses? Wow, that's ballsy.

Except, it's not at all, because all the contrived bullshit that comes when the team wins is still there, all the lessons learned. Not good at all!

The Lesson: If, by some cruel twist of fate, you, the sports figure, loses, it's alright, cuz it's really just about family and friendship and lessons learned and all dat crap!

January 17, 2011

It's time to root through some trailers. What sorts of wonderful things will be alluded to today?

Thank God I didn't live in the 80s. I don't know if I could have survived the music!

On the cusp of finally having to suck it up and be a man, Matt instead opts to continue on with his pathetic existence, wasting away at a video outlet and squandering all that good stuff that a school like MIT puts into you. When his unrequited high school crush saunters in one day and invites him to a party, he takes this as a sign that he may actually be able to get with her. Dragging along his bitchy sister and annoying best friend, he rolls up to the party in a sweet ride (which he stole), bumping "Straight Out of Compton", and lookin' fly! Shenanigans occur and shit goes down. You know, like any party in the 80s.

The cast includes Topher Grace, Dan Fogler, Anna Faris, and Theresa Palmer. I would say that this is a prime comedy cast, but then I realize that, with the exception of Grace, no one in the cast is actually funny. Uh-oh. But Michael "I'm Kyle Reese and Dwayne Hicks, So I Could Kick Your Ass Just By Blinking, So Fuck You" Biehn is in it. Interesting...

The trailer is fairly stupid, not gonna lie. It's rarely funny, has a slew of cringe worthy moments, and the music. OH GOD, THE MUSIC!!! Since the title is ripped from an 80s classic, and the promos are all capitalizing on the soundtrack, 80s music is going to feature heavily in this thing, which makes want to fellatiate a gun barrel; I HATE 80s MUSIC!!!!

If anything is going to save this film, it's going to be Topher Grace, who is, in my mind, a master of the deadpan. His dry, sardonic wit has shone brightly in other things like In Good Company or Predators. Hell, he was even alright in Spider-Man 3, and his character in that is responsible for the downfall of that whole movie! If the movie will work, it'll be because of him. I'm not gonna hold my breath though. I have low expectations for this one.

January 15, 2011

January 14, 2011

Hollywood, though it has been good to us, is a cruel beast at heart. I mean, seriously! Yes, it's been a few years since Spider-Man 3 came out, though, if your like me, you've erased that excuse for a superhero movie from your head. But, a few years is like dog years in Hollywood. Hell, they waited 28, that's right, 28, before finally deciding to bless us with a Tron sequel. So, why do they think that a Spider-Man reboot - not sequel, reboot - is a good idea?
...

What? Nothing?
...

Oh well, I guess it's not really important. What's done is done, and we'll just have to live with it. I'm actually cautiously optimistic about the retcon of the web slinging teenager. First, they have Mark Webb, the director of my favorite movie from the past decade, behind the camera, which sounds perfect to me. On the other hand, that (500) Days of Summer, which didn't feature a single explosion or pitched action scene. Uh-oh.

If anything seals the deal for me, it's that Andrew Garfield is playing Peter Parker. Garfield wowed everyone with his sublime performances in The Social Network and Never Let Me Go last year, so I have no doubt he'll be able to do the Marvel icon justice.

And then there's this...

... and that looks pretty cool. Based on this picture, this version of Spider-Man looks to be a lot grimmer and darker than the campy, cheese filled Raimi movies. Hell! Garfield actually has a wound (of sorts) on his face, which is a lot more than Tobey Macguire ever received. Maybe they are going the Chris-Nolan-Batman route and making it hyper gritty. I don't particularly think that this will work for them, but, you never know. Either way, I'm interested.

January 13, 2011

I figured I should probably start doing one of these. You know, share the love, as it were. I mean, everyone else it writing such great stuff, and how do I thank them! I'm a bastard, I know, but I'm trying to redeem myself, man! It's hard work!

Anyway, this'll become a weekly thing in the vein of Hatter's Everyone's Talking feature. So, for your reading pleasure, here are some things upon which you click, and they will take you to new things, which you can read! Enjoy!

Fletch is back! 5 posts in 6 days? Say it ain't so! Get caught up on all things Blog Cabins with this week's State of the Cabins.

Castor at Anomolous Material is hosting the second Hollywood Fantasy Draft. The pitches have started to come in, and they are juicy, to say the least. Here's a pitch from Steve of 1001Plus.

Marshall managed to score an early screening of The Dilemma. Lucky bastard! Unfortunately, according to him, it's not very good. Here's his review.

Hatter caught a glimpse of what Rooney Mara as the new Lisbeth Salander looks like, and gets the conversation going on the subject. Take part.

January 12, 2011

Since Hollywood likes to give you a happy ending so you don't go out and start a riot, the good guys will always get away. There's a catch to this, however. Since Hollywood also likes to draw things out to the very last minute and keep up the suspense so you get your money's worth and don't go out an start a riot, the good guys always escape at the last minute. The main perpetrator of this fad, to my knowledge, is Star Wars. In New Hope, Luke destroyed the Death Star mere seconds before it blew up Yavin. In Empire Strikes Back, R2D2 repairs the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive just as Vader is about to capture them. In Return of the Jedi, Lando races of out the new Death Star and escapes, just as it explodes behind him.

Those are some lucky sons of bitches, aren't they?

The Lesson: Are you a good guy? Great! You'll get away, but it'll be a close one! Stay sharp!

January 10, 2011

We've come to the end. Over the past week and a half, Films From the Supermassive Black Hole has covered everything worth covering about the year that was, from posters, to trailers, to lines. It wasn't the best year there ever was, but, though it was a rare occurrence, everyone found something to enjoy at the movies this year. It was a good year, all in all, so before we finally bid goodbye, I'd like to take the time to make a toast.

Raise your glasses.

To 2010, and the movies it gave us. To the good and the bad. To the socially inept jackasses getting rich. To an epic about dream invasion. To a ballerina slowly losing her mind. To vampire love. To western revenge. To fighters making a comeback. To A-Teams, bank robbers, and foul mouthed superheroes. To rockstars, serial killers, and valiant warriors. To stuttering kings and sentient toys. To wizards. To benders. To lovers. To haters. To rocks. To aliens. To utopias. To computer programs. To lesbian moms. To The Expendables. To video games. To everything else in between. To film!

And, now, the time has come! Here it is, the end all, be all. The definitive list of the year. Here are Films From the Supermassive Black Hole's Top 10 Movies of 2010!

January 9, 2011

With all good things, must come the bad. The yang to the yin. The sour to the sweet. The stupid to the smart. You get the idea. A lot of people are hating on 2010 as a particularly bad year at the movies. I don't necessarily agree with the general public on that one, but will concede that there were plenty of bad eggs clogging the theaters, with some of the worst I've ever seen. And what kind of complete retrospect would this be if it didn't touch on the bad experiences at least once. Here is Films From the Supermassive Black Hole's Top 5 Worst Movies of 2010.

Note: Everything I could write here, I've already said in my reviews. So, I'll be going the aesthetic route. Click on the posters to get to the review. Enjoy.

January 8, 2011

What kind of retrospect would this be if I didn't at least touch on what was about to come. In the past, all I've done is list off some movies that would be gracing our presence in the coming year. Well, now, since I'm getting nominated for awards whatnot, I'm going to focus on the year to come with it's very own post! Man. I'm legitimate! Seriously though, 2011 looks like it will answer a lot of cinematic questions, questions regarding superheroes, robots, wizards, and Mel Gibson. These are my Top 5 Most Anticipated Films of 2011!

January 7, 2011

The good peoples over at Total Film are hosting their annual Best Blog Awards, and, to my great surprise and pleasure, they listed Films From the Supermassive Black Hole as one of the 20 candidates for Best Review Blog, along with a whole bunch of other blogs that I dig. Well, now the fun part begins. Could you help a fellow out, and follow the link, and vote for me? It would be greatly appreciated, and, if you do, I will find some way to make it up for you. I could send you a DVD from my collection. I could write a post on how awesome you are. We could wait until I'm 21 and then I'll buy you a drink. Either way, please help a guy out. Regardless of whether or not you vote for me, head over to the site and vote on all the other categories, but be sure to vote for Anomolous Material for Best Overall Blog. Castor and Co. run a tight ship up there, and they deserve all the praise! Thanks folks! Now go out and exercise your rights! FOR FREEDOM! BEAUTY! TRUTH! AND LOVE!!!

Though they are never seen on the screen, unless they're named Clint or Woody, but directors are the real artistic forces behind whatever film it is that you are watching. Actors can be bad, sure, but at the end of the day, most, if not all, of the blame will be placed on the director. Director's are closely scrutinized, aren't they? They'll make one great film, be heralded as a new master, and then tank on the next one. 2010 saw once great directors fall into a deeper pit of awfulness, once lackluster directors up their game, and the usual masters turn in their standard excellent work. There were some sour apples, to be sure. But, how can you complain when the sweet apples were sooooooo sweet. Here are FFTSBH's MVP Directors of 2010.

January 6, 2011

Actors are the most instantly recognizable part of any movie. They are the ones that appear on the poster. They are the ones that are talked about the most when the movie comes out. They are the ones that people focus on most come awards season. A movie can live or die on their performances. The best actors can elevate a product to heavenly heights. The worst can sink a movie like it was the Titanic. 2010 had plenty of bad, even terrible performances, from lame action heroes, to lifeless muses, all capped off with one of the worst performances by a child actor ever. But, I'm not here to talk about that. That's no fun. We need some catharsis in this time of change. I know. It's difficult. Cheer up, damn it! So, with the intention of lifting your spirits, here are the MVP actors of the year. Seriously! Cheer up!

Before we go on, I want to address some people who don't make the short list, but are just as worthy of recognition. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network). Armie Hammer (The Social Network). Vincent Cassel (Black Swan). Richard Jenkins (Let Me In). Jeff Bridges (True Grit). Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter). Allison Pill (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech). Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right, Shutter Island). Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right). Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1). Kristin Stewart (The Runaways).

January 5, 2011

Movie soundtracks are awesome, aren't they? They usually do a lot to heighten and intensify the experience of watching a film, and, as a plus, you can take them with you wherever you go, thanks to Apple and their ever present desire to conquer the world! 2010 had some winner soundtracks, and some that just fell flat, and some that didn't stand out or bring anything new to the table at all. The best soundtracks, however, were spectacular. More than any other year, to my recollection, we had popular artists moving over to scoring films, and it paid off wonderfully. Here are the Top 5 Best Soundtracks/Scores of 2010!

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Beck and Others)
Gonna be honest here, any other soundtrack could have found a place at number five. The top four really spoke to me, but I was left out in the rain searching for a fifth. I eventually settled on SPVTW, which boasts songs written for the film from the likes of Beck, Broken Social Scene and Metric. That's all well and good, but what seals the deal is that this movie is the only one to my knowledge to have the theme song from The Legend of Zelda in it. That's hard to beat.

4. Black Swan (Clint Mansell)WHAT? IT'S NOT ELIGIBLE FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCORE CONTENTION? BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!! No, really. I'm steamed about that. Though it is based on the actual music of Swan Lake - and it makes sense that it would be - Mansell's score is a truly original piece of work. Beautiful and haunting, it really evokes the craziness and madness that Nina is experiencing. Plus, listening to classical music while someone freaks the hell out is just creepy as balls! That's gotta count for something.

3. Inception (Hans Zimmer)
A traditional-esque score needed to show up on this list at some point, and there was no traditional-esque score this year better than Hans Zimmer's amazing score for Inception. Taking everything he did well with The Dark Knight, and then turning it to 11, Zimmer has crafted a score that is exciting to listen to, giving off a very epic feel, while still feeling shockingly intimate and subdued. Oh, and he has Johnny Marr on guitar. What's not to like?

2. The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
This is something really special. Trent Reznor has made some weird music in his time, and, I gotta admit, a lot of it doesn't really appeal to me; I'm not the world's biggest Nine Inch Nails fan. But, I have to say, what Reznor does with Atticus Ross for David Fincher's film is brilliant. When listening to it out of context, you can't fathom how it will fit with Mark Zuckerberg's tale of the founding of Facebook. When paired with the movie though, it fits seamlessly! Evoking such scores as The Dark Knight and Fincher's own Se7en, the music of The Social Network makes the rest of the movie seem a whole hell of a lot grimmer than it actually is. Which is the way it should have been done! Good job Trent!

1. Tron: Legacy (Daft Punk)
Now, this is perfect! Just perfect! Daft Punk's brilliant score for Tron: Legacy not only fits the film like a well worn glove, but it is also the only soundtrack this year that can be listened to outside of the film and still be a complete experience. Mixing traditional, symphonic scoring with their trademark electronic beats and mixes, Daft Punk have crafted a score that's unlike any I've heard. It's truly marvelous!

Well, that does it with the superficial stuff. Now we get into the real meat of The Retrospect. Tune in tomorrow for MVPs of the Year (Actors). It's gonna be lovely! See you then little ones. Get some sleep.

January 4, 2011

At every movie you go to, there's that one moment that sticks in your mind as you walk out of the theatre. You know, that one scene that just wowed you with whatever excellence it was displaying? You know what I'm talking about. Picking the Top 5 Scenes of a year is always a hard task, since there are so many to choose from. But, I persevered for you like the savior I've deluded myself into thinking I am. Here are the Top 5 Scenes of 2010! (Warning: Possible Spoilers)

5. "Rub the furry wall!!" (Get Him to the Greek)
Easily the funniest sequence of any film this year, this ten-ish minute scene comes right at the beginning of Act 3. Sergio has cornered Aldous and Aaron at some elaborate hotel in Vegas. He proceeds to "mind-fuck" them into oblivion so that they continue on their journey to the Greek Theatre. What follows is a chaotic stew of gunfire, arson, sodomy, adrenaline rushes, all capped off with a mad chase through the hotel hall ways. Funny stuff!

Audio's a little funky on this one...

4. Nina's Freakout (Black Swan)
The punchline before the punchline, if you will. The night before her big opening, Natalie Portman's Nina finally loses any remaining sanity that she had. Starting with a crazed hallucination of a woman stabbing herself in the face, Nina descends into a crazed freakout, seeing pictures move, hallucinating that people are following her, and, to top it off, imagining that she painfully morphs into a massive swan in her room. It's terrifying and memorable scene.

Can't find a clip of it, so here's the trailer, which will suffice.

3. The Lightcycle Battle (Tron: Legacy)
The action scene that gives most other action scenes a run for their money. Though it comes early on in the film, it sets the bar high, and is not topped for the rest of the runtime, despite the fact that everything that comes after it is visually astounding. Once Sam is outed to the world as a user, CLU throws him into the Lightcycle ring, forcing him to engage in heated combat against programs far more powerful than him. It's a beautifully made scene, exciting, with an aesthetic touch unlike anything out there.

Quality on this one's not the best...

2. The Creation of Facemash (The Social Network)
We've all been dumped, I'm sure. It's never a good feeling. We usually retreat to our respective fortresses of solitude, wallow in self pity, until someone comes along an slaps us in the face and tells us to get a grip. Well, most everyone does that. Mark Zuckerberg, on the other hand, goes back to his dorm room, gets drunk, and proceeds to build a website rating the hotness of his female classmates. He'll narrate for us, showing off how much of a hacking genius he is, while many of the girls he is rating are off partying up a storm. Oh, and it'll be set to a song written by Trent Reznor, and it will be one of the most enthralling scenes of the year.

Can't find the actual scene, but this one's pretty cool...

1. The Hamster Wheel Hallway (Inception)
Well, duh! It's the most exciting sequence of the most exciting movie of the year. Cobb and the rest have entered the third level of the dream, leaving Arthur on the second to guard them. Unfortunately, Yusuf's driving on the first level is making this difficult. Yusuf is suddenly forced down a hill, causing the van to tumble wildly. Since the environments of each dream level are effected by the preceding level, this causes the hallways on the second level to suddenly start spinning. Arthur enters into a heated fistfight with a projection in the middle of all this. Pure! Amazing! Awesomeness!

Ignore Jimmy. He's not welcome...

I'm enjoying these. Aren't you? Tune in tomorrow for the Top 5 Soundtracks/Scores of 2010, and be sure to refresh yourself on all the Black Hole's opinions regarding the year that was with 2010: The Retrospect. See you tomorrow younglings. Listen to Yoda.

January 3, 2011

Day 3 of 2010: The Retrospect is gonna focus on the most popular part of a film's advertising, the trailer. It's the thing that gets people most excited about upcoming movies, and the aspect of a films production that many film bloggers avoid like it's the plague... or Battlefield Earth. People like going into movies blind, and they have every right to. I, on the other hand, love trailers. Not only do they lovingly tease me with what I'm going to experience, but they also help me decide whether or not I should go see a film. You didn't see a review of Burlesque from me, did you? Maybe its lame trailer had something to do with that. There have been some amazing trailers this year, but only five can make the cut. Sit back. Enjoy.

5. Tron: Legacy (Comic-Con Footage)

It's not an official trailer, doesn't delve into plot at all, and doesn't reveal anyone involved with the film with the exception of Jeff Bridges. But, that's all technicalities. Even though it wasn't played in theaters, this is the one that got me über excited to see the return of Flynn and all that it would bring. It may be cheating, putting Comic-Con footage on my list of best trailers of the year, but, since when have I played by the rules. Got a problem with it? Talk to the caribou outside. He's wise.

4. The Tourist

So, apparently, the movie actually sucked. Well, that's a shame, because this trailer kicks ass. It's kind of awesome, looks cool, and all that, but you all know why I love it. It's the Muse track that's playing in the background. Oh, advertisers. You have a key to my heart, and I love you so! It's a weird thing though. The last film to have a Muse song in its trailer was disappointing as well, despite having talented people working on it. LE GASP!!! Maybe Muse is cursed... Oh, whatever. Here's the trailer.

3. Inception

Oh, please. What did you expect? The most exciting action movie of the year. Of course the trailer would show up on this list. The music is epic! The imagery is epic! It beautifully tickles you with plot elements and character motivation, while still keeping most everything a mystery. For an example of quality advertisement for a pop product, look no further than this.

2. The Social Network (IM Trailer)

This one inches past the competition because of its totally bitchin' idea. No characters are shown. No scenes from the film are shown. Just dialogue, shown via a Facebook chat. That's brilliant. It got me excited for the film, and adequately showed how friggin' boss the dialogue of the film was.

1. Sucker Punch

I could tell you, but why would I do that, when I could show you?

Hope you enjoyed that. Tune in tomorrow for Top 5 Best Scenes of 2010, and be sure to refresh yourself on everything that 2010 had to offer with the Black Hole's 2010: The Retrospect. See you tomorrow kids. Eat your vegetables.

January 2, 2011

In which Dylan, James, and I shoot the shit on Tron: Legacy, talk Kevin Smith's new film, and play some Remember the Time. It was a lot fun being on the cast again, and can't wait to do it for real again come summer. Take a gander.

Day 2 of 2010: The Retrospect. Today, we're going to look at what 2010 had to offer us in cinematic still images (how's that for oxymoron?). That's right. That crucial, but short lived, act of advertisement, the poster. 2010 had some winner posters, some awesome (Black Swan), some not so much (The King's Speech). These are the creme de la creme of 2010 posters.

5. Let Me In
Brilliantly evoking the dark and scary atmosphere of Matt Reeves' brilliant film, this poster is quite a sight to behold. Very moody, it's sparse use of color is really striking. The image of Abby lying in a pool of blood is terrifying. Look closer, and see how sad she looks, and it becomes almost heart wrenching, like the movie. Normally, I'd say it overdoes it on the black, but since the image of Abby is that much clearer because of it, I'd say an overabundance of black is a good thing. Plus it just looks sick!

4. Get Him to the Greek
Fine, the movie may not hold up all that well, but this poster is still hilarious! Effectively capturing the insanity of the movie, it's also just a funny thing to look at. Russell Brand is all kinds of crazy and depraved, throwing up those horns as Dio were on the other side of the picture and he wanted to impress him. Jonah Hill's terrified and confused expression is the perfect counterpart to this. All in all a hilarious poster for a pretty funny movie.

3. Buried
Didn't see the movie. Yeah, I know, you can't believe. How could I reference a movie in my 2010 retrospective without seeing it. Well, I have seen the poster, so, put a sock in it! Evoking a Hitchcockian motif, this is a very haunting and off-beat poster, effectively capturing the claustrophobia and abject terror of the scenario into which Ryan Reynolds' character is thrown. Now, I've heard that the film wasn't all that. Oh well. At least the poster was pretty effin' boss!

2. Predators
Now that's awesome! Who knew something as simple as a solitary Predator standing with its wrist blade extended could so brilliantly set up a balls to the wall action movie. The minimalist use of color sets up the grim world and tone of the film very well, while the viciousness of the monster's blade and his stance alludes to something far more brutal. The fact that we only see have of the creature gives off a sense of ambiguity. We ain't never seen Predators like this before. What else is gonna be new? This is a poster I would be proud to have hanging in my room.

1. Inception
This is a poster I have hanging in my room. This was, quite simply, the best example of one sheet advertisement to come out this year. Not only is it an artistic achievement in its own right, it expertly sets the tone and feel of Nolan's film. This poster is positively sick! I mean, come on! How can you not look at the picture and walk away impressed? Nolan's film is a mind trip. This poster is a mind trip. In a year full of hundreds of one sheets, this is the one that best fit the film it was attached to. That and, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is holding a really big gun. What's not to like?

Well, that was fun. Tune in tomorrow for Top 5 Best Trailers of 2010. Cya tomorrow children. Don't drive without the lights on.

January 1, 2011

Line delivery is one of the oft-ignored aspects of a performance. A script can suck hard, but a talented actor can hide that fact with great line delivery. Day one of 2010: The Retrospect focuses on just that. Here are the Top 5 Best Lines of 2010 as decided by me and my committee of one from the black hole!

5. "Gator needs his gat, you punk ass bitch!" (Will Ferrel from The Other Guys)
Sure, The Other Guys wasn't that great, but there were some winner lines in it, the best of which is delivered by star Will Ferrell. After having his gun confiscated for performing a "desk pop", Ferrell's Allen Gamble walks around for the entire film carrying a wooden pistol, and then loses that in favor of a rape whistle. Eventually, he's had enough, and, once he's found enough evidence on the huge case he's been working on, he storms into his captain's office, slams his whistle down on the table and... well, you know!

4. "Dating you is like dating a stairmaster!" (Rooney Mara from The Social Network)In a film that prided itself on stinging dialogue, this line, delivered by Rooney Mara's Erica Albright in the opening moments of the film stung the most! It's a brilliant line, in and of itself, and Mara delivers it beautifully. It really set the bar high, and the film spent a lot time trying to match it. I can't find the actual clip, but here's a segment from the same scene, that adequately shows off her awesome timing!

3. "Not that I care, but you should go talk to her before she's gone. And I really don't care." (Allison Pill from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
Allison Pill's Kim Pine is the master of the deadpan. There were so many good moments from SPVTW that showed off her fantastic timing, that I was hard pressed to pick just one. This one is interchangable with any of her lines from the film, but, this one is the best!

2. "Ok you c**ts. Let's see what you can do!" (Chloe Moretz from Kick-Ass)
Ordinarily, a line like this wouldn't cause more than a smirk from me. But, a line like this isn't usually said by an 13 year old girl. In a year where Chloe Moretz surpassed pretty much everyone, her vulgar and depraved performance as a miniature death dispenser made a lot of people take notice. Like I said, it's not every day you hear a minor use language such as that.

1. "Machete don't text!" (Danny Trejo from Machete)
Nuff'' said.

I hope you enjoyed that. There's still plenty more to come. Tune in tomorrow for Top 5 Best Posters, and be sure to come back all week for more of 2010: The Retrospect. See ya then, kids. Always drink your Ovaltine.

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Well, You're Here, So You Might As Well Know...

Sebastian Gutierrez is a sophomore at Bard in New York, studying to become an actor, or writer, or both, is a movie addict, verbally verbose, JosephGordon-Levittsexual (or Jo-Gosexual, if you're Kai), and hoping everyday that this blog gets noticed by... someone.

Also, he's creepily obsessed with Muse, and will sometimes use the space of this blog to plug them, not like they need it, but, whatever!